Blade dicing which mechanically cuts a wafer by using a rotating blade is generally used to singulate a semiconductor substrate into chips. This blade dicing sequentially forms a plurality of dicing grooves in a semiconductor substrate, thereby singulating the semiconductor substrate into chips. Accordingly, blade dicing has the problem that when the chip size is decreased and thus the number of dicing grooves is increased, the dicing time prolongs in proportional to the number of grooves.
Recently, Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching (MacEtch) method is attracting attention. According to the MacEtch method, for example, a discontinuous film made of a noble metal is formed on a semiconductor substrate, and etching is performed by using this noble metal as a catalyst. For example, the MacEtch method can form a deep hole having a high aspect ratio in a semiconductor substrate.